Change in the Air
by smallhobbit
Summary: Events in the House may call Arthur and Leaf back without meaning to. Events take place after Lord Sunday, so expect spoilers
1. Chapter 1

_I've loved Garth Nix's writing style for the longest time, but I really don't think I'm up to that level. After reading Lord Sunday, though, I felt like writing something since every book of the series made me feel like I wanted to write something. I still feel like it's not the same quality, but it's my version of a sequel. I hope you all enjoy._

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He waited just outside the door as they said goodbye. It had been his fist date with Leaf and Arthur Penhaligon was more than a little nervous. There really wasn't any reason for him to be considering they had both known each other for years now and it logically was the next step, but it seemed like something else had been on his mind the whole night.

They had both been standing there awkwardly after Arthur tried to jokingly point out that she could invite him inside but he'd already seen it once. That brought them both back to bad memories they'd rather not think about, and really hadn't for years now.

Leaf finally spoke up, "Arthur… maybe this wasn't…"

Arthur interrupted her, "No, it's alright; I shouldn't have brought it up." He sighed. "It seems so long ago, now."

"It seemed forever then," she murmured.

It once again slipped into an awkward silence as they thought back to everything that had happened then. It did seem like a lot, but it had also happened relatively quickly as well.

"I wonder if... I mean, I wish I knew…" Arthur stopped and tried to get his thoughts in order.

Leaf offered a soft smile. "I'm sure they're fine… We'd know if something were wrong… Wouldn't we?"

Arthur nodded. His other friends, or at least most of the friends he had met around the same time as Leaf, were busy rebuilding the universe which was no easy task. The last time they had seen any of them, he had only just restored the Secondary Realms and a small piece of the Elysium. "He" being the new Architect, who in turn was also Arthur, or at least another version of him. The Arthur currently in the Secondary realm known as Earth wasn't about to even begin to understand how it worked.

Arthur glanced at his watch. "It's getting late… I should probably be heading home, now."

"…Yeah…" Leaf seemed to be staring at something just beyond Arthur's head. "…Please, stay…" She stopped in mid-thought and finally went inside, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Everyone was already asleep when Arthur finally got home. Except that it wasn't really home, or at least not like it used to be. Arthur didn't really talk about it much with anyone, except occasionally with Leaf, but she had been there. He was sure that if he'd told anyone else they'd think he'd had some kind of a psychotic break and lock him up, or treat him for some mental illness, both of which he didn't want.

He sighed as he walked into his room, not at all like the room he had had then, but maybe that was a good thing. He thought about everything he had been through in his life as he sat down on the bed and yawned; he'd almost forgotten how tired he actually was.

It was then he heard a phone ring. His hand instantly went to his cell phone. He didn't used to carry one, but now everyone in the family had one and somehow he thought it had to do with him. By the time he had it out and was ready to answer it, thinking that it was probably Leaf and she just forgot to tell him something, he realized that it wasn't any ringing sound a digital phone would be able to make, but he had heard the sound before.

He glanced over to a box; a red lacquer one sitting idly on his desk that he had passed by almost every day. The plan had been for him to use it if he ever had any need from his other self, but something in the back of his mind told him that he'd probably be better not bothering the new Architect and although if he did call and ask for a magical solution to his problems that magic would cause even more problems to the world around him. He had seen that first hand.

The only reason why anyone would be using that phone to call him would be…

_Oh no…_ He thought as he quickly tore open the box to get at the phone inside. "…Hello…" he answered cautiously.

"…'ello Arthur, long time no see… Well actually, I guess it'd be hear, wouldn't it?" the voice on the other end said, before letting out somewhat of a nervous laugh. It sounded like a young woman, but for some reason there was a familiar twang to her voice as if he'd heard it on someone else before.

"…Suzy?" he asked as a slight twinge of fussiness settled into his memory.

"Oy! Knew you'd remember," she replied, and Arthur could almost visualize her beaming on the other end, but that was impossible. The Suzy he knew was a Piper's Child stuck forever at a young age; this woman sounded like she was at least 20.

"Suzy, what's going on?" Arthur demanded, if it even was Suzy on the other end.

"…Just wanted to know if ya've seen anything odd…"

"What do you mean 'odd'?"

"You know… _unusual_."

"No, do you mean House odd or Earth odd?"

"…Um…both, I guess," she answered after a second.

"Everything's been pretty normal here, actually," he replied, then quickly added, "Why? What's wrong?"

"…N-nothing…" Arthur almost let out a sigh of relief till she added, "… yet…"

"What do you mean?" he demanded again. "What's going on?"

"…Can't say much more," she said. "Just keep…"

The call was disconnected.

* * *

"…Oh bugger!" Suzy shouted as the phone disappeared from her hand.

"What was that about?" a voice from behind her asked.

She turned to see sunglasses on the face of a 26 year old she knew quite well as Art. He dressed a bit more modern than the rest here, but that could be because the others were still getting used to the idea of deviating from a theme.

Suzy, on the other hand, was wearing a tattered looking top hat and various mismatched pieces that somehow worked on her. The man in front of her just shook his head and smiled before mumbling something under his breath.

"What?" Suzy asked slightly sure he had said something bad about her.

"Oh… nothing," Art replied still smiling. "So, who were you on the phone with?"

Suzy shifted around nervously. "…Uh… No one importan'. Best you don't worry about it; got enough to deal with, anyway. I'll handle it," Suzy rattled out before running off.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to everyone for the great reviews; you guys really make this worthwhile, especially with all the positive feedback. Although, I do have to apologize for making this chapter so short... (It keeps it interesting, though... hopefully...)_

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Arthur couldn't get to sleep the rest of the night as thought of the House and the current danger crept in his head. Then again, if there was a problem why would Suzy call, if it was even Suzy. Maybe the new Architect had known a way to make Suzy older, or Suzy had somehow gained a kind of magic to do it on her own…

…_Or it really wasn't Suzy on the phone…_

Every time he tried pushing that train of thought out of his head, he immediately started thinking that maybe he somehow missed the event Suzy was trying to warn him about, or maybe it was happening right now and he didn't even know it all because he was in bed. If he really wanted to, he could go downstairs and check the TV to see if anything important had happened on the news, but he was sure if he did he'd wake someone up and have to explain why he was interested in watching it so late at night.

Arthur had wanted to know what was going on in the House, but he didn't want to go back to the same sense of fear and unknown he'd had as well.

He quickly glanced at his clock with the hit of another desperate thought, _What time had it been when Suzy called?_

Was it midnight? Or did he get home at eleven? What day was it for that matter?

Sleep finally gripped him, though he had yet to figure out the answer.

* * *

She didn't really know if it was a problem yet or not, but without a surefire way of getting in contact with Arthur she wouldn't know for sure, ether. What she did know was it wasn't going to be good if it turned out to be true.

What was really needed was a second opinion, and she wasn't sure if Art could actually be trusted with it enough to give one. It felt like she was going behind his back, which she didn't like, but there wasn't any other way and it had to be resolved relatively quickly.

She turned to the other person sitting there. "So, what's goin' on, then?"


End file.
